


A Peculiar Habit

by badgerdactyl



Category: Puyo Puyo
Genre: F/M, Late Night Conversations, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22274446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerdactyl/pseuds/badgerdactyl
Summary: Accord finds herself prone to taking long walks during the night. Satan is determined to stop her.
Relationships: Satan/Professor Accord
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	A Peculiar Habit

The autumnal air carries with it an aimless song, an improvisational tune sung not from a score, but from a soul. With every step Professor Accord takes, the leaves crunch and form a chorus for the private concert she performs under the cool night air. The moon acts as a spotlight, pouring through the canopy of the forest and lighting her path. Alongside the gentle breeze, she waltzes through the forest path and the noise of her restless mind falls back in a decrescendo. Until, of course, her ears perk up to an otherworldly sound - like that of a faint, muffled firework - that echoes behind her.

A deep voice cuts through her song, clearing his throat before asking a question that he knows won’t receive an answer. “Do you have _any_ idea what time it is?”

Accord stands still and turns her head over her shoulder, purple locks cascading down her back. “Why, good evening, Your Highness,” she responds with a smile - a sense of serenity in the face of the devil himself. “I daresay, we really should stop meeting like this.” She turns her whole body towards him and holds out her hand. An invitation. “Walk with me?”

Scoffing, Satan makes himself comfortable on the bough of the tree he appeared on, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other. “You’ve ignored my question.”

“As have you, it seems.” Her face falls slightly as she rescinds her hand and turns back around. She continues down the path, humming aimlessly to herself as she heads the same sound - the puffy _pop!_ of matter slipping through the void - behind her. She lifts her head a little higher as she walks forward and pretends to ignore the third _pop!_ and the flash of light above her.

“Do you have any idea what your students are saying?” he asks, folding his arms and doing nothing to hide his disgruntled expression.

“Children are wont to gossip, Your Highness,” she says with a shrug, not breaking her gentle stride. “I’m not particularly worried about the rumor mill these days.” A _pop!_ sounds off behind her in response, quickly followed by another. Accord digs in her heels, narrowly avoiding the demon prince standing before her.

“I’ve heard rumors - rumors that there’s a siren in these woods, singing her sweet song and luring people into the woods.” He places a hand on her shoulder and leans down. “Do you know why that might be considered _troublesome?_ ”

Accord gives a slight tilt of her head and lets out a hum in consideration. “Ah, I see your point. Why, sirens are _nautical_ creatures - there’s no reason anyone should consider finding one in the forest!” She takes her hand into a fist and drops it into her open palm as Satan removes his hand from her shoulder and brings it to his forehead. “I shall have to plan a remedial lesson sometime this week in order to correct this mistake.”

He drags his hand down his face with a groan. “No!” he hisses, stopping for a moment to regain his composure and putting his fingers to his temples. “You know how children can be, Professor. Soon, they’ll be plotting and planning a way to catch this ‘creature’ they’ve dreamed up.” He catches her devil-may-care expression and narrows his eyes. “Doesn’t that concern you? These woods will be full of children making such a horrible din that I won’t even be able to get my beauty sleep!”

A smirk crosses her lips. “I would have thought you couldn’t hear a thing from your perch in Ta-Doon-Ta Castle, Your Highness.” 

“That’s not the point! I-”

“Why, all this time I had considered you to be more of a boogeyman than a sandman.”

“Y-you-!”

“I feel as though I’ve learned something this evening,” she says, stifling a laugh with her hand. She sidesteps him and continues down the path. “Good night, Your Highness,” she sighs with a wave of her hand.

“Now, you listen _here!_ ” Satan turns on his heel and, in an instant, wraps an arm around her waist. In a swift motion, he hoists her into the air and holds her legs up steadily. “I’m putting an end to this.”

Accord can’t help but let out a laugh at her sudden weightlessness. “Why, Your Highness! You didn’t have to sweep me off my feet just to teleport me home, you know.” She offers him a coy smile and playfully taps the tip of his nose.

“Oh, you’d like if I did that, wouldn’t you?” He smirks and bends his knees slightly. “You’re going to want to hold on, Professor.” Brilliant red wings unfurl from his back like ribbons and he flaps them once, twice, before leaping into the air. He breaks through the canopy, up high into the full light of the moon. Accord, heeding his warning, wraps her arms around his neck and he can’t help but let out a bellowing laugh as she does so. His eyes twinkle like starlight as he flashes her an overconfident grin. “Brace yourself.”

In an instant, the two swoop down at a breakneck pace, turning up just before crashing into the top of the trees, the leaves rustling madly beneath them. Satan flies them across the top of the forest, a grin plastered on his face as Accord tightens her grip around him. Nearing the flower fields, he pulls her in close. “Don’t let go, Professor.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” she responded before letting out a laugh as two began to speed through the starlight, stirring up the petals of the moonsunflowers blooming below. The two zip-zoom around and around the windmill before soaring towards the soft glow of Primp Town, the cool night breeze blowing through their hair. He pulls her in close as they approach the familiar sight of her cozy cottage.

Satan descends with a practice poise onto her porch and lifts his chin with a self-satisfied smirk. “Well? What did you think?”

“Breathtaking,” she sighs happily. “Absolutely breathtaking.” She stays silent for a moment, still wrapped in his arms and, sensing no movement or intention of setting her down, she loosens her grip. “Now, where is my key, I wonder?”

He rolls his eyes and mutters in a low voice. In an instant, everything disappears. Then, in another, the two reform and find themselves in her master bedroom. “Is this sufficient?”

She smirks. “My, my. You went through all that trouble just to end up teleporting me here in the end?”

Satan says nothing, instead opting to drop Accord unceremoniously onto her bed and put his hands to his hips. “Go to sleep.”

Unphased, she sits upright at the edge of the bed. “Here,” she says, patting the spot next to her. “Sit with me?”

“Go to sleep,” he repeats, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t believe I will,” she replies. She stands up and stretches before covering her mouth to stifle a yawn.

The devil himself, standing nearly a full head taller than her, looms over her and lowers his voice. “Go to _sleep._ ”

“I’m afraid you have no authority over me, Your Highness.”

He clicks his tongue, rebuffed slightly. “Is that so?”

“It is. I’m a Buddhist, after all.”

The clock ticks once, twice, as a choir of crickets chirp just outside the window. Then, breaking out of his stunned silence, Satan lets out a laugh before leaning in close. “You’re slipping, Professor,” he coos, drawing a finger under her chin. “You claimed to be a Taoist last time.”

“Is that so?” Accord swats away his hand and replaces it with her own. She lets out a hum and mulls over their last encounter. “Perhaps I did…”

He puts his hand to her shoulder and leans down to face her. “What’s this really about then?” With his free hand, he pushes a purple curl out of her face and tucks it behind her ear with a tenderness he’d nearly forgotten he’d had. “Why not tell me the reason - the _real_ reason - you’ve been acting like this?”

She turns her head aside and gingerly puts her hand atop his. “I’m afraid that if I do - that if I tell you my true thoughts, you won’t be here anymore. You’ll leave me.” She turns back to look at him with a sad sort of smile as she lets out a chuckle. “Then, who would I have to pester me so?”

He considers her smile and her words for a moment - thinks of the world and religion - and brushes her hand away with a scoff. “That’s not how this all works. My being here does not depend on your thoughts alone.”

“Is that right?” Her smile softens. “I suppose I’ll have to try harder, then.” She lets out another yawn, barely covering her mouth in time to suppress it.

He stands upright, a mixture of disgust and confusion washing over him. Rather than admit his inability to understand the enigma of this professor, he narrows his eyes. “Do not have me repeat myself. Go. To. Sleep.”

She folds her arms in front of her. “I’m afraid that’s not currently possible.”

He fumes, clutching his fists beside him as his patience wears thin. “And, pray tell,” he starts, his voice wry and dripping with sarcastic concern, “ _why not?_ ”

“Why, I simply can _not_ change into my nightgown with you standing there, Your Highness.”

Satan blinks in response, unclenching his fists, and stands there for what feels like ages, though, the clock on the wall ticks only once, twice, three times before he stammers out what sounds like a sort of apology. His face flushes red and his ears burn - for a second he wonders, in horror, if they are actually engulfed in flames - as he scurries out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Accord stifles a laugh in the stillness of her bedroom, for fear of embarrassing him further, should he still be standing outside of the door. She walks to her closet and undresses quickly and quietly and redresses in the same manner. She thinks to herself a great deal of things. She thinks of a future where he might remember his daring and offer to stay - though, she’s quick to remind herself that she had thought that last tie this had happened. Perhaps more action needed to be done on her side. Perhaps she should be neglectful in her warning. She thinks of the way his face turned and the way his voice caught in his throat at the mere thought of seeing her and she chuckles. She smooths out the skirt of her nightgown and sits at the edge of her bed, left to her thoughts until a knock at the door pulls her back to reality.

A silence follows the knock, then a cough from the other side of the door. “Are you dec- _no, no._ I trust that you’re dressed?”

“You’re welcome to enter.” A pause. “Yes, Your Highness, I can assure you that I am in proper sleeping attire.” She takes off her glasses and sets them down on the nightstand as he tops the door and sheepishly steps inside. Once more, she pats at the spot on the bed next to her. “Sit with me?”

For less than a second, he hesitates. Then, he clears his mind of the offer, as well as his throat. “I believe you’ll have a much easier time falling asleep if you lie down, Professor.”

“I suppose that’s true,” she replies, standing up and removing the covers. She does little to mask the disappointed frown on her face as she turns towards him and bows her head. “Thank you, as always, Your Highness, for escorting me home.”

Satan wavers for a moment before letting out a disinterested _hmph!_ and tossing his hair back with his hand. “See to it that this doesn’t become a habit, Professor.”

In an instant, his form dissipates and Accord finds herself alone once again. She crawls into bed and tries to make herself comfortable before reaching a hand out to the empty side of the bed. She wonders how it might feel to have company. Then, she thinks back to his words and worries that it may already have become a habit. Perhaps, it’s too late, now.

Outside, under the moonlight, in the bough of a nearby tree, Satan reappears. Unable to admit any reason to himself, he tries and fails at not peering through the window of Accord’s cottage. He, too, worries about habits. He, too, wonders if it’s too late, now, to turn back. And, perhaps, that’s not such a bad thing after all.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been ages since I wrote last! I hope you enjoyed this one~
> 
> This is basically a love letter to my girlfriend, who always has to argue with me when I should go to bed ;)


End file.
